Method of manufacturing car-wheels.



No. 663,3I7. Patented Dec. 4, |900. F. A. WHEELER.

METHOD 0F MANUFACTURING CAR WHEELS.

(Application led Nov. 22, 1899.)

(No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 2.

l F 5 f 6 INVENTOR l @QE/f i y 1 BY .A v f A l l f f,

No. 663,317. l Patented Dec. 4, |900. F. A. WHEELER.

METHOD UFMANUFACTURING-CAR WHEELS.

(Application filed Nav. 22, 1899.-)

(No Model.)

3 Sheets-Sheet -3.

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lUnire@ STATES ATENT Finca.

FRANK A. WHEELER, OF PITTSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA;

METHOD OF MANUFACTURING CAR-WHEELS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No, 663,317, dated December 4, 1900. Application filed November 22,1899. Serial No. 737,906. 4 illomodel.)

To all wtont t may concern.-

Be it known that l, FRANK A. WHEELER, a citizen of the United States of America, residing at Pittsburg, in the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and usefullmprovements in Methods of Manufacturing Car-Wheels, of which the following' is a speciiication, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings.

This invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in processes for the manufacture of car-wheels, and is partielllarly adapted for use for manufacturing carwheels from metal or metal-and-alloy ingots, blooms, or blanks.

My invention, hereinafter more fully described, relates to the manufacture of solid integral metal or metal-and-alloy car-wheels in a manner entirely different from that embodied in any previous processes or methods,

inasmuch'as my intention is not to produce what is known as a cast-metal7 or metaland-alloy car-wheel, wherein the wheel was cast in a mold to practically-finished dimensions and afterward hammered and rolled slightly on the periphery and edges of the rim.

My invention is particularly adapted to produce a solid-metal or metal-and-alloycarwheel from a solid integral metal or metaland-alloy ingot, forming and shaping` a rough bloom or blank from such ingot undera heavy steam-hammer or hydraulic press, and afterward rolling and working the ingot, bloom, or

blank in a thorough mannerin asuitable mill` having universal rolls bearing on all parts of said ingot, bloom, or blank during the operation of rolling. Such a mill designed for that purpose is fully described in my application for patent on rolling-mill, filed November 15, 1899, Serial No. 737,026. p

A further object of mylinv-ention is to so reheat forged ingots, blooms, or blanks for car-wheels previous to the rolling process that the hub and the small portion of the web or plate integral therewith shall be muffled or prevented from receiving the same degree of heat as the remainder of the web or plate and the rim of the wheel, to the end that in the subsequent rolling process the center of the wheel may be more rigid and have no tendency to become unduly ,warped or twisted shaped by the dies.

by the rolling ofthe rim and the web or plate. This portion of the wheel-blank not receiving as much rolling as the web and rim, it need not be heated so hot.

In describing the invention the details of my improved method will be specifically setvforth in the accompanying specification, and

the form of ingot, bloom, or blank when shaped by dies, as well as the ingot, bloom, or blank rolled into a completed solid-metal or metal-and-alloy car-wheel, is illustrated in' the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure l is a perspective view illustrating the shape of the metal or metal-and-alloy ingot, bloom, or blank after the same has been vertical sectional view of the partially-rolled wheel and the muffle, showing manner of mufiiing the hub and thinner portion of the web. Fig. 2 is a perspective View illustrating the completed solid-metal or metal-and-alloy car-A wheel. Fig. 3 is a side View showing the rolls arranged in a mill for shaping the ingot, bloom, or blank into a solid-metal or metaland-alloy car-wheel. Fig. 4 isa cross-sectional view of a pair of dies and of the ingot,

bloom, or blank shaped subsequent to the rolling process.y Fig. 5 is a cross-sectional View of the completed car-wheel made in accordance with my improved process. Fig. 6

Fig. l is a transverse is a cross-sectional view of the cheese for the to be rolled into a solid-metal or metal-andalloy car-Wheel. Fig. 8 is across-section View of the mill, illustratinga cross-sectional View of the ingot, bloom, or blank formed into a completed solid-metal or metal-and-alloy car- Wheel made in accordance with my improved process.

The improved process of manufacturing a solid integral metal or metal and alloy carwheel embodied in my invention is carried out in the following manner: The ingot after being made or prepared of the grade or quality of metal or metal and alloy is heated to a working heat and in that condition is placed upon the ordinary anvil of a steamhammer or hydraulic press and well worked throughout its mass and upset or reduced in length to the form of a cheese l of a suit- IOO able thickness determined by the size of the car-wheel to be made. A small hole is then punched in the center of the cheese or not, as desired. The punched ingot, bloom, or blank is then lifted off the anvil, and the bottom die-block 2 is placed thereon, the bloom 1 being placed on top and exactly centered. The top die-block 3 is next placed upon the bloom l, directly over and in line with the bottom die-block 2. The hammer or press is then operated to force by impact the top die-block 3 onto the bloom resting between the die-blocks 2 3 until the desired width of bloom is attained and the Web or plate roughly formed, the displaced metal owing up into the cavities in the die-blocks and so formingthehub of the desired length and also flowing outwardly in a radial direction, taking the shape of the dies. It will be observed that the shape of the die-blocks 2 3 is such that they form the faces of the ingot,

bloom, or blank tangent to the axial line through the hub-that is, the web or plate at the line A B of Fig. 4 is thicker in section outside edge or circumference, as at line E F,

than it is at lineG H. By shaping the dies in this manner the metal flows more readily from the center to the circumference of the ingot, bloom, or blank being forged andflattens it out or enlarges it in diameter with less power exerted than if the die-plates were perfectly flat between shoulders or filleted portions.

I do not in this improved method desire to limit the Outward [iow of the metal in the ingot, bloom, or blank as forged between die` plates 2 3 by confining it withincircular walls either madeintegral with eitheror both of the die-plates 2 3 or separate from the latter, as in a circular ring or band. I prefer to have the periphery of the ingot, bloom, or blank retain its natural shape as forged between the die-plates 2 3 and not limit its ex pansion along circumferential lines. It will be noted that by so forging an ingot, bloom, or blank no attempt is made to form a rudimentary flange upon the periphery of the same in the forging process; but the formation of the usual flange and tread of the carwheel is made in the subsequent rolling process on the mill or machine especially designed for that purpose, as heretofore referred to in my copending application. One or more pairs of such die-blocks, as 2 3, may be used in forming aforged ingot, bloom, or blank fora car-wheel as may be necessary for different forms of such wheels. After the forging process the ingot, bloom, or blank is reheated t0 prepare it for rolling. As the periphery of the hub of the wheel is but slightly touched by the web-rolls and that only in the beginning of the rolling, it is not necessary that the hub be heated to a working heat, such as is required for the web or plate and the rim, including the tread of the wheel neither is it necessary that the portions of the web or plate immediately adjoining the hub be heated to a working heat, and for the same reason. It is an advantage in the rolling process to have the hub and a portion of the web or plate Vof the car-wheel heated to a considerable less degree than that of the rim or tread, for the reason that it would be stilfer, more rigid, and less liable to become distorted or warped in the rolling. It is also an advantage not to heat said parts to such a Working heat as the rim requires, for the reason that the metal would be damaged to some extent by so heating and not doing as much subsequent work upon it at that degree of heat required. To accomplish this desirable condition, I so arranged the reheatingfurnace to have the hub and a portion of the adjoining web integral therewith shielded from the flame of or the heat-radiating Walls of the furnace in such manner as may be best suited to the results to be obtained. Preferably I use suitably-shaped muttles 4a of any material found desirable making them cupshaped and placing one beneath the Wheelblank as it lies on `the bottom of the furnace and the other mounted on top of the wheelblank, both mufdes being of such dimensions as would envelop the hub and portions of the web immediately adjoining and integral therewith, to the eiect that the dame or heat is directed from the `hub and said portion of the web or plate long enough to enable the remainder of the web and the rim of the wheel-blank to become heated to acondition for rolling.

In some cases only the mufde on top of the wheel-blank will be necessary, the latten| resting on the bottom of the furnace. It will be evident that one of the objects of the mniiies is to prevent the quick heating of the thin mass or portion of the web or plate as regards `the heating of the rim.

The car-wheel ingot, bloom, or blank after being forged and reheated, as hereinbefore described, is next rolled in a suitable mill or machine adapted to spin out the said blank to a larger diameter, rolling and thinning down the web or plate at the same time, in order that sufficient work is given the metal to produce a tough and homogeneous web that will withstand severe strains in service. It will be noted that the tapered web as produced in the forging and described hereinbefore fulfils an important function in the rolling part of the process, inasmuch as the web being thicker lat its union with the rim than at the hub allows of more rolling of the web atthis point. It is important that this should be done, for the metal in this portion is hotter than that nearer the hub and requires more Work. Moreover, the rolling or spinning out of the rim will have a tendency to draw or attenuate the web, which tendency will be offset by the larger mass of metal to draw from.

The rolling of a car-wheel from an ingot,

IOO

IIO

bloom, or blank to a finished car-wheel can be accomplished in the manner as illustrated in Figs. 5, 7, and 8, in which e indicates the car-Wheel ingot, bloom, or blank when first entered into the rolls, 5 the finished Wheel, 6 and 7 the edging-rolls, 7 8 the Web-rolls, 7 S the operating-shafts therefor,9 the main treadroll, and l0 the guide-roll, the operation of these rolls and their construction being fully described in my copending application heretofore referred to.

After the car-Wheel is rolled, which takes about three minutes, and the rim or tread is still at a high heat, it is removed from the mill quickly and immersed in a suitable tempering iiuid, either in Whole or the rim only, in order to harden and temper the tread, flange, and ri unto the effect that these Wearingsurfaces may be comparable With the chilled tread and flange of a cast-metal car-Wheel, and yet harder and more desirable than the corresponding surfaces in the tire of a metaltired or built-up car-Wheel, as hereiubefore described. The car-Wheel may or may not be annealed after the tempering process, or it may be simply annealed and not tempered.

I do not wish to limit myself in this invention to any specific number of operations as described, inasmuch as different kinds of carwheels may require treatment suited to eachas, for instance, one variety may not need to be muiiied in the reheating process nor yet be tempered after rolling, or either, or both; neither do I Wish to limit myself to the speciiic shape or form of the ingots to be made, nor the die-plates or rolls used, inasmuch as changes may be made to suit Varying conditions of size and Weight of car-Wheels without changing the principle or spirit of my invention.

Having fully described my invention, What I claim as new, and desire to secure byLetters Patent, is-

l. The herein-described method for manufacturing car-Wheels, consisting of first forging an ingot into a car-wheel bloom or blank having a web portion increasing in thickness from the periphery of a hub portion to its union with a rim portion, second mufing the hub and heating the rim and thicker portion of the web to a Working heat, third entirely rolling said car-Wheel blank into a car-Wheel, and fourth suitably tempering or annealing said Wheel.

2. The herein-described method for manufacturing car-Wheels which consists in forging from a suitable ingot a car-Wheel bloom or blank formed with an integral hub, web and rim portions, the said rim and Web portions being of an unequal thickness throughgut, suitably muffling the hub and reheating said web, and rim portions, and then simultaneously rolling said web to an equal thickness throughout and the said rim to a desired thickness with the periphery thereof formed with a tread and a circumferential flange.

5. The herein-described method for manufacturing car-Wheels which consists in first forging from a suitable ingot a car-wheel bloom or blank formed with an integral hub, web and rim portions, said Web and rim portions increasing in thickness from said hub portion, second muffiing the hub and thinner portion of the web and suitably reheating the thicker portion of said web and the entire rim portion, and third simultaneously rolling said web to an equal thickness throughout, said rim to a desired thickness and the periphery of. said rim into a tread and flange.

4. The herein-described method of manufacturing car-Wheels which consists in rst, forging from a suitable ingot a car-Wheel bloom or blank formed with an integral Web, rim and hub portions in such a manner that the web and rim portions increase in thickness from the hub portion outwardly; second, mutl'ling the hub and thinner portion of the Web of said bloom or blank; third, reheating the thicker portion of said Web. and entire rim; fourth, placing said reheated bloom or blank on its edge in a mill, and fifth, simultaneously rolling said Web t0 an equal thickness throughout and the said Arim to the desired thickness with its periphery into a tread and flange.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in the presence of two Witnesses.

FRANK A. WHEELER.

Witnesses:

J oHN NOLAND, WILLIAM E. MINOR. 

